Can Matrixify Import & Export Metafield Definitions? No — But Altera Can

Matrixify is a popular Shopify import/export tool, but it does not support metafield definitions. This is a common source of confusion — Matrixify handles metafield values (the data stored inside metafields), but it cannot create, export, or migrate the definitions that give those metafields their structure.

Altera supports full import and export of metafield definitions.

What Are Metafield Definitions?

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Metafield definitions are the schema that describes a metafield’s structure in Shopify. They are configured under Settings → Custom Data in the Shopify admin. Each definition includes:

• Name — the human-readable label shown in the admin
• Namespace and key — the unique identifier (e.g., custom.care_instructions)
• Type — the data type (e.g., single-line text, number, rich text, date, product reference)
• Description — what the metafield is for
• Owner type — which resource it belongs to (product, variant, collection, customer, order, etc.)
• Validations — rules like character limits, min/max values, or allowed choices
• Access controls — storefront visibility, customer account access
• Pin status — whether it appears prominently in the admin

Metafield definitions are not the same as metafield values. A definition is like a column header in a spreadsheet — it describes what data goes there. A value is the actual data in each cell.

What Matrixify Does (and Doesn’t Do)

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Matrixify can:

• Export metafield values for products, variants, collections, customers, orders, and other resources
• Import metafield values using column headers like Metafield: namespace.key [type]

Matrixify cannot:

• Export metafield definitions
• Import or create metafield definitions
• Migrate metafield definitions between stores
• Manage definition properties like validations, descriptions, access controls, or pin status

Matrixify’s own documentation recommends that you manually set up metafield definitions in your Shopify admin before importing metafield values. If definitions are missing in the target store, imported metafields become “metafields without definitions,” which limits their functionality and cannot be retroactively fixed for certain types.

Why This Matters

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If you are migrating between Shopify stores or setting up a new store based on an existing one, you need your metafield definitions in both places. Without a tool that handles definitions, you must manually recreate every definition — name, type, namespace, key, validations, and all — in the target store before you can import any metafield data.

For stores with dozens or hundreds of metafield definitions across products, variants, collections, customers, and orders, this is a significant amount of tedious, error-prone manual work.

How Altera Handles Metafield Definitions

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Altera treats metafield definitions as a first-class data type. You can:

• Export all metafield definitions from a store with their full configuration
• Import definitions using MERGE, NEW, DELETE, or REPLACE commands
• Transfer definitions between stores — reference validations for types like metaobject_reference and mixed_reference export as portable type handles instead of store-specific IDs
• Filter exports with smart defaults that automatically exclude Shopify-managed namespace definitions (which can’t be imported via API)

This means you can migrate your entire metafield schema in a single spreadsheet operation, then import your metafield values afterward — no manual setup required.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Does Matrixify support metafield definitions? No. Matrixify supports metafield values only. It cannot import, export, or manage metafield definitions — the schema that defines each metafield’s name, type, namespace, key, validations, and access controls.

Can I use Matrixify to migrate metafield definitions between stores? No. You would need to manually recreate each metafield definition in the target store, or use a tool like Altera that supports definitions as a data type.

What happens if I import metafield values without definitions? The metafields become “metafields without definitions” in Shopify. This means they won’t appear in the admin UI under Custom Data, may lose type information, and cannot be retroactively assigned certain complex types like rich text or references.

See our full Altera vs. Matrixify comparison for a breakdown of all the differences between the two tools, or check the FAQ for more common questions.

Import and export metafield definitions with Altera.